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* Shell accepts Putin's invite to work on Sakhalin 3 and 4

* Russia needs foreign help to develop its energy wealth

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By Simon Shuster

MOSCOW, June 27 (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin moved again to ease his government's clasp over the energy
sector on Saturday, capping off a week of foreign energy deals
with a surprise offer for Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L).

Weaker oil prices, now half of what they were a year ago,
have persuaded Russia to scale back its resource nationalism.
Moscow now looks to be balancing the dogged protection of its
energy wealth with the need to have foreigners invest in it.

The offer to Shell, which comes days after Russia struck
major deals with France's Total (TOTF.PA) [ID:nLO221477], is
emblematic of the renewed openness, because Shell was the victim
of Russia's most aggressive drive to re-take control of its
natural resources.

In 2006, under intense government pressure, it ceded control
of the vast Sakhalin-2 project to Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM).
But on Saturday, Putin invited Shell to help develop the giant
Sakhalin-3 and Sakhalin-4 projects off Russia's Pacific coast.

"These require offshore production in difficult deep sea
areas where your experience will be very valuable," Putin told
Shell Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer at a meeting in his
summer residence outside of Moscow.

Van der Veer accepted the invitation and said it was an
ideal time to move ahead with these projects, as the financial
crisis has brought down the price of construction.

"We are ready to work quickly," he said. "It is a good
signal that investments start to flow again, a good signal for
Russia and, of course, a good signal for Shell."

"NATURAL PROGRESS"

In February, gas export monopoly Gazprom inaugurated
Sakhalin-2, a $22-billion liquefied natural gas project, in
which Shell has 27.5 percent after giving up control to Gazprom.

Sakhalin-3 and Sakhalin-4, also based on the Pacific island
of the same name, are at far earlier stages and big money is
still needed even to nail down how much oil and gas they hold.

The informal agreement with Shell on Saturday did not lay
out the Anglo-Dutch major's future role in these projects.

When asked by Reuters whether it would have a direct stake
in either one, Shell Chief Financial Officer Peter Voser said,
"I think it's a natural progress now, having built Sakhalin-2."

A key aim of van der Veer's visit to Moscow, the final one
of his career as Shell's chief executive, was to introduce Voser
as his successor. Voser will take his place as of Wednesday.

Over the past decade, Putin has built close ties with the
heads of many foreign energy giants and has a habit of meeting
them face to face before allowing any major deal to go forward.

Because the two of them share fluency in German, Van der
Veer said it would be easy for them to get along.

"I can assure you that this Swiss-accented German is not
easy to understand," said Putin, who learned to speak the
language during his early career as a KGB spy in Dresden.

Putin said that Shell has met all of its contractual
obligations in Russia and was a welcome partner, despite the
public controversy with Gazprom over Sakhalin-2.

"We have a dialogue that has not been easy, but we have
reached an agreement to meet each other half way and come to an
agreement that has allowed us to build a firm foundation for
future cooperation," Putin said.

Van der Veer added: "Cooperation with Gazprom has been very
smooth."

At the Saturday meeting, Shell also signed a cooperation
deal with Russian shipping firm Sovcomflot to develop shipping
infrastructure for the transport of liquefied natural gas (LNG).